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February 25, 2009

Mobilkom Activates its First Wind-Powered Mobile Phone Base Station

By Narayan Bhat


Mobilkom austria, the domestic mobile subsidiary of European giant Telekom Austria, has activated its first wind-powered mobile phone base station in Eibesthal, Lower Austria.
 
This innovative project, mobilkom said, symbolizes the wireless operator’s commitment to energy efficiency and environmental safety because such plants are rare in Central Europe.
 
The project has already been nominated for this year’s environmental award to be awarded by the City of Vienna.
 
Mobilkom said it designed the prototype and turned the idea into action in a space of one year.

“With this wind turbine-powered mobile phone base station we are stressing once again our innovation expertise. In less than a year we have been able to design a prototype, unparalleled in this form throughout Central Europe, which has already been integrated in our live network,” commented Boris Nemsic, CEO Telekom Austria (News - Alert) Group.
 
The wind mill, which is currently up and running, will supply nearly eighty percent of the total energy required by the mobile phone base station.
 
The project “renewable wind turbine energy” has been initiated within the framework of mobilkom austria’s 2008 sustainability agenda focused on “CO2 reduction”, the operator said in a statement.

Vertical axis wind turbines can be easily deployed wherever there is enough wind. Thanks to their compact design they can be installed both on mobile phone masts and the roofs of building facilities.

“Following the successful live operation of this first wind turbine-powered base station, we are planning to convert from seven to 10 percent of all mobile phone base stations in Austria into environmentally friendly wind-powered facilities. Moreover, we will extend this project to the other operating markets of the Telekom Austria Group,” continued Nemsic.

mobilkom austria has pioneered many innovative ideas in the past. The company was the first mobile provider worldwide to launch a GPRS network in 2000 and the first operator in Europe to start a UMTS technical network.

Narayan Bhat is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Narayan’s articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Jessica Kostek

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